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AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL STUDIES LESBIANS
AND GAY MEN
Iran, Mauritania and Yemen execute homosexual citizens
From:
XTRA! (Toronto's Lesbian and Gay Biweekly)
P.O. Box 7289, Station 'A', Toronto, Ontario
May 27, 1994
Story by: Michael Battista
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Governments throughout the world are harassing, detaining
and in some cases executing people because of their sexual
orientation, according to Amnesty International.
In Breaking The Silence, the human rights organization's
first report dealing exclusively with human rights violations
against lesbians and gay men, Amnesty states there is ample
evidence that governments in all regions of the world direct
abuse specifically at homosexuals. In countries such as
Iran, Mauritania and the Republic of Yemen, homosexuality
is punished by death. Other countries regularly detain
people for their real or perceived homosexuality, despite
little or no evidence of their having engaged in sexual acts.
Such arrests show the function of these laws to be regulators
of gay identity, Amnesty says.
The report cites the case of a Romanian couple, Mirel
Ciprian Cucu and Milorad Mutascu, arrested in January
1993 and jailed. The two men were living together at the
time of their arrest. They were charged under Article 200
of the Romanian Penal Code, which carries a prison
sentence of up to five years for "having sexual relations with
a person of the same sex."
After spending six months in jail, the two were convicted
and received suspended sentences of one and two years'
imprisonment respectively.
Amnesty is working on the cases of three other Romanian
men convicted under Article 200. They are serving up to
two-and-a-half years. The organization considers the men
to be prisoners of conscience and is calling for their
immediate and unconditional release.
Other countries singled out by Amnesty for their treatment
of lesbians and gay men include:
* Turkey, where 28 foreign and three Turkish gay
activists were detained in July 1993, prior to that country's
first Congress of Homosexual Solidarity. The foreign
delegates were told that they would have to undergo HIV
tests and strip searches; they were then deported.
* Mexico, where two gay activists known for their
AIDS education work among male prostitutes were detained
and beaten by Mexico City police in June 1992. They were
detained for more than one year -- for reasons Amnesty
believes are related solely to their advocacy of rights for
Mexico's gay community.
* China, where a Cantonese man was sentenced in
February 1993 to eight years for having homosexual
relations. A lesbian couple was detained for 15 days on
charges of "unruly behaviour" in April 1992. China also
uses electric shocks and psychotropic drugs on detainees to
change their sexual orientation.
Interlocking prejudices and discrimination often underlie
execution, torture and detention, according to Amnesty.
"For example, a woman in prison may be raped not only
because she is a female, but because she is a lesbian," the
report states, "and the action is specifically targeted at
breaking down her sexual identity."
A section of the report is devoted to burgeoning
international lesbian and gay movements and their victories.
An Asian lesbian network, for example, which includes
groups from Bangladesh, India, Singapore and Thailand,
held its first formal meeting in 1990. And in Nigeria, the
first gay conference was held in 1991, despite a law that
makes homosexual acts punishable by up to 14 years in jail.
Amnesty International's work on behalf of lesbians and gay
men is recent. In 1979 the organization affirmed that those
imprisoned for advocating gay rights would be considered
prisoners of conscience. In 1982, Amnesty condemned the
forced medical treatments carried out on people in detention
to alter their sexual orientation. In 1991, AI finally
expanded its mandate to consider adopting anyone
imprisoned for homosexual acts.
Its fundraising merchandise now includes buttons and T-
shirts with the message "Love Is a Basic Human Right" over
a large pink triangle.
The report states that the ultimate goal is to ensure that
human rights violations against lesbians and gay men be
placed squarely onto the agenda of the United Nations and
other intergovernmental bodies.